At this point, I’d like to make an open call to all my fellow Star Wars fans and/or collectors who frequently visit various SW collecting websites. I’m not prone to making such requests, but this is a situation that cries out for it.

From this point forward, I am asking you to permanently boycott Rebelscum.com.

For those of you who aren’t aware of why I’m asking this, here is the reason in a nutshell:

As you may know, Dustin Roberts, a fairly well-connected member of Rebelscum, recently won the honorary Fan Club President contest. Not many people were happy, but oh well. However, affiliate relationships with LFL entities (which should have disqualified Dustin) came to light. Of particular note, here is this direct quote from site owner Philip Wise on the matter of financial perks gained by Hyperspace registrations (the focus of the contest):

"We have an affiliate relationship with Starwarsshop.com and it is possible and even likely some subscriptions to the fan club paid us a commission, generally 5%, or $2.00. ... "

That is a SERIOUS conflict of interest. Not long after this was revealed, discussion ensued among forum members about its ramifications. This was the response from Wise (I’ve placed the most disturbing portion in bold-face font):

“So, I'm done messing with this discussion as it's just running around in circles. I have spent valuable time I did not have messing with this subject.

To those who are ****ed off Dustin won: Whether you showed your cards here or not, leave now. I don't wish you to be using our resources ever again.

I await emails with your user accounts so I may close them.

No more discussion on this topic will be allowed."

Wise then proceeded to lock down the thread and, within an hour, erased the entire thread from public view (except for that final posting).

Essentially, if you didn’t like the outcome but still respected Wise and Dustin enough to keep quiet, PHILIP WISE STILL WANTS YOU GONE!!

I say that we give him exactly what he wants, but I offer these amendments:

Terminate your user accounts and permanently leave Rebelscum IF:

1) If you are self-respecting SW fan and/or collector.
2) If you understand and accept a person’s right to their own opinion.
3) If you understand that a true fan community embraces all members who act with civility and mutual respect.

I still have multiple transactions with several RS.com members, and I will see those through until the end. After the last transaction is finished, I will be submitting my request to have my user account terminated and my collection page permanently deleted from the archive. I am washing my hands of Rebelscum.

Please do the same…whether you’re a casual fan, an established forumite, or even a Rebelscum moderator. There are plenty of hospitable websites out there for us, and it’s time Mr. Wise and company learned that they’re not the only fish in the sea.

Thank you for taking the time to hear me out. If you're on board, please let others know about this inexcusable blemish on the Internet SW fan/collector community.

CaptainSolo1138

07-12-2006, 06:39 AM

I agree and will be more than happy to "accomodate" Mr. Wise. Except for the collector pics on their front page, I think that site is useless.

If it were up to me this thread would be a sticky.:D

bobafrett

07-12-2006, 07:51 AM

I don't have an account there, there is to much to read here on a daily basis.

Luuuuuuke

07-12-2006, 07:59 AM

It doesn't bother me much that Dustin Roberts won. For all I know he's a nice dude.

But it Wise's response is straight out lunacy. Who does he think he is, the leader of some little banana republic? I'm not an RS member but I kind of wish I was just so I could cancel my account. (I actually tried to join twice despite my reservations about the place, but it was kind of a pain in the arse. I practically had to fax parental approval).

CaptainSolo1138

07-12-2006, 08:15 AM

I feel that I should make it a point that I'm not and RS member either. :D

mabudonicus

07-12-2006, 08:19 AM

Someone I know was already banned from there for behaviour that would have been regarded here as "quaint" at worst.... others, not so much, but I've heard it ain't all funtime over there :beard:

El Chuxter

07-12-2006, 08:28 AM

I heard they once bashed a guy for saying he'd hit a baby, and they kept telling him he was a subhuman who should die even though he obviously had mental issues, and when he finally told them off, he was banned. Funny, no one else was banned over that. Or so I hear.

Rocketboy

07-12-2006, 09:24 AM

This whole thing is disgusting.
I would cancel my account, but the only time I ever go to RS is through a link (usually posted here).

JON9000

07-12-2006, 10:24 AM

In point of fact, it is his Banana Republic, and he can run his site any way he wishes, get rid of whomever he wants, for whatever reason. These "fan sites" are not public entities owned by the fans, even though they are free to use and provide us all with considerable entertainment value.

I have no problem with Rebelscum getting a kickback from Hyperspace memberships, I really couldn't give a crap about this Dustin dude, and people who are going onto Mr. Wise's website calling him a crook are wound a little too tightly. Were I him, I would tell ingrates and complainers to kiss my grits, too.

I'm not a member at RS, but I head over there fairly regularly, as I enjoy seeing the collector's collections and the photo archive. To each his own, and if it is a big deal to you, good luck, but I fail to see why it is such a big deal to anyone. :confused:

Banthaholic

07-12-2006, 10:47 AM

I go there for there to read there 'Just Found' section as there are more locals on that particular thread.

I don't post there, the only time I did was once when I posted a pic I took on a thread here at SSG and then saw my same pic posted over there without giving credit to me or SSG. I called them on it and got flamed for it, and that was the last of my RS posting experience.

What I like about this site is that anyone whether they have 10,000 posts or 10 are always included in a conversation. We don't feel the need to flame people. We can respectfully disagree, after all that's were true discussion and learning often takes place.

As for that otheR Site, if you go there just remember to forget to click on there advertisers, then remember to do so over here :)

figrin bran

07-12-2006, 11:15 AM

i am a member over there and it's quite appalling. (gotta be careful that i don't misspell that as "appealing"!). the irony is that mr. wise alleged some rules might have been broken. ha.

Kidhuman

07-12-2006, 04:12 PM

I cant boycott RS, I have been banned.

Sith Lord 0498

07-12-2006, 05:13 PM

It doesn't bother me much that Dustin Roberts won. For all I know he's a nice dude.

But it Wise's response is straight out lunacy. Who does he think he is, the leader of some little banana republic? I'm not an RS member but I kind of wish I was just so I could cancel my account. (I actually tried to join twice despite my reservations about the place, but it was kind of a pain in the arse. I practically had to fax parental approval).

Exactly!!! My personal opinion about the whole Roberts things is that I'm unhappy he won because it was rewarded him for all the gluttony we endured with the campaign. If it hadn't been so gratituous, I wouldn't feel one way or another about it. So nothing against Dustin personally.

Phil Wise is the jackhole pulling all this nonsense!!

Sith Lord 0498

07-12-2006, 05:19 PM

In point of fact, it is his Banana Republic, and he can run his site any way he wishes, get rid of whomever he wants, for whatever reason. These "fan sites" are not public entities owned by the fans, even though they are free to use and provide us all with considerable entertainment value.

I have no problem with Rebelscum getting a kickback from Hyperspace memberships, I really couldn't give a crap about this Dustin dude, and people who are going onto Mr. Wise's website calling him a crook are wound a little too tightly. Were I him, I would tell ingrates and complainers to kiss my grits, too.

I'm not a member at RS, but I head over there fairly regularly, as I enjoy seeing the collector's collections and the photo archive. To each his own, and if it is a big deal to you, good luck, but I fail to see why it is such a big deal to anyone. :confused:

You have a lot of valid points that I agree with. The problem is his attitude and his sweeping denouncement of so many fans. Keep in mind he wants to evict people who don't agree with him even if they never said anything publicly. He still wants them gone.

The Dustin Roberts thing was just the powderkeg that exposed a total lack of respect for people's opinions and an over-reaching iron grip on the collectors and fans who frequent that site. That's what the big deal really is.

Still, JON, I'm glad you chimed in. I'd be surprised and (quite frankly) a little disappointed if there weren't dissenters in this thread. But that's the difference between us and them. We're not going to berate you, ban you, censor you, or any of that.

ALL opinions are and should be welcome in a fan community, and that's why I'm calling for the boycott.

2-1B

07-13-2006, 01:25 AM

Sorry but I can't boycott something I never visit. lol lol lol

decadentdave

07-13-2006, 01:40 AM

I cant boycott RS, I have been banned.

Could be worse... could be banned from it-Ain't-Cool News.

Talk about a big head of cheese...

Luuuuuuke

07-14-2006, 02:04 AM

I'm not a member at RS, but I head over there fairly regularly, as I enjoy seeing the collector's collections and the photo archive. To each his own, and if it is a big deal to you, good luck, but I fail to see why it is such a big deal to anyone. :confused:

Frankly, I don't get it when people defend jerks like this by basically stating the obvious: that it's his sandbox and he has a right to kick out anyone he wants. Yeah, he does. He's still an a-hole. And I can think of worst wastes of time than calling an a-hole and a-hole. Like *****ing about the articulation of action figures--which by the way, is okay by me(but is still objectively more of a waste of time than the aforementioned calling a-holes a-holes:D).

When I'm at work, or at home with my family, I could care less about the whole Philip Wise affair. But in those minutes when I'm logged on to a site like this or RS or wherever, damn right I or other people here should have an opinion on this, and at least cry out, WTF!!!? And no, it's not a waste of time. (If I beyotch about it to my wife, or my colleagues at work, okay, that's weird, and THAT is a waste of time:D)

One last point about those "ingrates" who I guess are wasting their time criticizing Wise. Let's say an RS member thought,"Well, I don't like the way this Dustin Roberts thing went down, but it is Philip Wise's website, so I'm going to respectfully keep my mouth shut." The irony is Wise won't care. He'll still want to boot you out because he doesn't want people who feel differently then he does about the DR issue, he doesn't want people who have qualms. He wants people who think like he does. That's a lack of respect. The guy is basically trying to prosecute you for, I don't know, "mind-crimes.":D And he arrogantly expects people to come forward like sheeps and admit their thought violations. What does this guy have, a God complex?

Darth Instigator

07-14-2006, 12:01 PM

yea I dont go there either so I dont really care but I am with you guys

Slicker

07-14-2006, 12:40 PM

I cant boycott RS, I have been banned.HAW!!! u got burrrrrrrrrnd bich!

JON9000

07-14-2006, 12:43 PM

One last point about those "ingrates" who I guess are wasting their time criticizing Wise. Let's say an RS member thought,"Well, I don't like the way this Dustin Roberts thing went down, but it is Philip Wise's website, so I'm going to respectfully keep my mouth shut." The irony is Wise won't care.

I have to admit I never read the thread that lead up to Wise's outburst, but there is a vast gulf between "respectfully keeping my mouth shut" and the "flaming" that I have seen petulant fanboys engage in when they don't get their way or disagree with somebody, or just want to "stir the pot" for their own amusement.

There are posts in this very thread that rail on RS members for jumping all over people in their forums for the most trivial of things. So, I can recreate in imagination what was said when people (who actually gave a crap!) found out this Dustin guy won. Combined with the kickback on Hyperspace memberships, these same forumites probably spat all sorts of vitriole accusing Wise and Dustin of being cheaters, scoundrels, knaves or whatever. And so Wise got frustrated and decided to let the whiners know he didn't need or want their crap. I don't have any problem with their egos getting readjusted.

Part of what I find interesting about all of this is the emotionalism in this call to arms. Has anybody here led a boycott against companies that engage in racist employment practices, environmental degradation, low paying wages, or the like?

Wise may be an a-hole or he may simply have understandably gotten fed up and had an outburst.

El Chuxter

07-14-2006, 01:06 PM

Has anybody here led a boycott against companies that engage in racist employment practices, environmental degradation, low paying wages, or the like?

You mean Wal-Mart, right? I've not led a boycott, but I try my damnedest to not buy anything there.

InsaneJediGirl

07-14-2006, 01:10 PM

I used to visit RS loong ago. I stopped because I didnt like the attidude of the members over there as a whole. Its much greener on this side of the fence :) As for Dustin winning the "President" of the "Fan Club",I could care less as I refuse to join the fan club any longer. Even if I did,I wouldnt recongize Dustin as the so-called voice of the fans :D

mabudonicus

07-14-2006, 02:41 PM

There are posts in this very thread that rail on RS members for jumping all over people in their forums for the most trivial of things

I have a legitimate gripe against that site though, the things that happened to me were TOTALLY ridiculous, I was banned because the foamy mouthed A-holes at that site are in fact foamy mouthed A-holes- if what happened there had happened to me in real life there would have been a lot of fat stupid fanboys with broken faces, there are a bunch of A-holes there aided and abetted by and in fact modeled after some of the "staff".

They can lick my poop-stick and call it candy :beard:

JON9000

07-14-2006, 02:52 PM

That's JON9000 there, buddy!!!

mabudonicus

07-14-2006, 02:54 PM

Whoops, sorry man, all these crazy usernames are SO hard to keep straight ;)

Luuuuuuke

07-15-2006, 12:07 AM

Combined with the kickback on Hyperspace memberships, these same forumites probably spat all sorts of vitriole accusing Wise and Dustin of being cheaters, scoundrels, knaves or whatever. And so Wise got frustrated and decided to let the whiners know he didn't need or want their crap. I don't have any problem with their egos getting readjusted.

Part of what I find interesting about all of this is the emotionalism in this call to arms. Has anybody here led a boycott against companies that engage in racist employment practices, environmental degradation, low paying wages, or the like?

Wise may be an a-hole or he may simply have understandably gotten fed up and had an outburst.

If you had read the whole thread you would have seen that Wise's outburst was shrill and out of all proportion to any offense, real or perceived. Neither he nor Dustin was flamed, though they were clearly grilled.

And when you talk about "petulant fanboys", don't forget that Wise is also a fanboy. Don't give him a free pass because he happens to be a fanboy whose the top dog of a Star Wars website.

darthvyn

07-15-2006, 07:22 AM

Combined with the kickback on Hyperspace memberships, these same forumites probably spat all sorts of vitriole accusing Wise and Dustin of being cheaters, scoundrels, knaves or whatever.

probably nerf-herders, too...

jedi master sal

07-15-2006, 09:32 AM

To each his own, and if it is a big deal to you, good luck, but I fail to see why it is such a big deal to anyone. :confused:

Well there is a little thing called the FIRST AMMENDMENT. I think if people wanted to, they could file suit and really jerk Wise around.

From what I understand, what was posted didn't go against their TOS (Terms of Service), so it was fair game.

Wise just didn't like it.

So, IMO (unqualified as it may be), there's every right to go after Wise on this one.

One last point about those "ingrates" who I guess are wasting their time criticizing Wise. Let's say an RS member thought,"Well, I don't like the way this Dustin Roberts thing went down, but it is Philip Wise's website, so I'm going to respectfully keep my mouth shut." The irony is Wise won't care. He'll still want to boot you out because he doesn't want people who feel differently then he does about the DR issue, he doesn't want people who have qualms. He wants people who think like he does. That's a lack of respect. The guy is basically trying to prosecute you for, I don't know, "mind-crimes.":D And he arrogantly expects people to come forward like sheeps and admit their thought violations. What does this guy have, a God complex?

More like the Bush Presidency complex...

Part of what I find interesting about all of this is the emotionalism in this call to arms. Has anybody here led a boycott against companies that engage in racist employment practices, environmental degradation, low paying wages, or the like?

Absolutely I have. I boycotted Wal*Mart for about 6 months. During that time they got NO money from me for ANYTHING, much less SW. I shop there now, but it's not the first priority place to go and if I can find something somewhere else that might be just a few cents more, I'll usually get it at the other place rather than WM.

I boycotted one specific Target for how they treated me, for about 3 months. Funny enough when I finally came back, an employee there said they hadn't seen me in awhile. So at least someone noticed.

Now did this make a big impact? No not as one person, but if others, MANY others were to then it would.

Also, since my Hyperspace membership just ran out, I'm NOT renewing it. Not to put that into perspective, I've been a contributing writer for the Bantha tracks Top Ten list for a couple of years now. I e-mailed Mary Franklin (Editor of Bantha Tracks) on a roughly weekly basis. This will ALL go away with my not renewing. I have yet to send the e-mail to Mary to tell her why and I'm loathe to do so, but feel I must to show how unfair I think the whole campaign for Hyperspace was and how it ultimately played out.

So YES, people DO boycott things.

And when you talk about "petulant fanboys", don't forget that Wise is also a fanboy. Don't give him a free pass because he happens to be a fanboy whose the top dog of a Star Wars website.

SOOOO Agreed. People put these guys up on pedastool like they mean something. They were just fans who either had enough business sense to go after Star Wars as a means to make money or gain fame. I have no "extra' respect for him or ANY of the "big name" collectors. As far as I'm concerned tey are people and collectors like the rest of us, they just have more and are better connected and yes have more money. But that's NO reason to put them high up. It's not like I'm ever going to call up Gus Lopez for Vintage info or a hook-up for instance. While I've met Steve Sansweet and he;s a nice guy, I can't see why some people make him to be the god of SW collecting. Okay he's got a lot of stuff. So what? Certainly if I was his age and had been collecting from day one, I would have had a much more impressive collection than I do now too. Point being I see no need to exhault any of these guys.

Phillip Wise gets NOTHING from me. I had an incident on RS as few years ago and he did NOTHING to fix it. And I mean I was royally flamed. Something that should have been a bannable offense by the person in question. Yet he did nothing. It seems that only if it's that important that it affects him or his "PRECIOUS"...website, will he do anything about it.

Bah, Sith Lord 0498 is SO right in asking for a boycott of RS. I think in all of the years I've been a fan, I've maybe posted there half a dozen times. I only ever go there for pictures and news articles. But then again I visit MANY sites, including YN, JD, GH, JTA for the same thing. Of course SSG is my first stop (and is usually kept open while I troll around on the other sites).

Okay, enough said from me.

RebelSCUM indeed. (Just Phillip Wise, not the rest of the people over there)

2-1B

07-15-2006, 09:32 AM

This is awesome, the webfighting has spilled over into our forums now. lol lol lol

Slicker

07-15-2006, 10:30 AM

I was just thinkin' that Cae. We're better than that guys. And Wise being a complete d**k has nothing to with us either...except for the fact that he's a d**k.;)

jedi master sal

07-15-2006, 05:54 PM

This is awesome, the webfighting has spilled over into our forums now. lol lol lol

Ah hell, I'm not fighting. I'm just expressing my opinion about a guy who's lost the meaning of what a true fan is.

Bobby Fett

07-15-2006, 09:16 PM

...pedastool...

That's GREAT! I love it! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

2-1B

07-16-2006, 01:50 AM

Slick, why did you have to censor yourself for calling Wise a duck? :confused:

Slicker

07-16-2006, 02:01 AM

Slick, why did you have to censor yourself for calling Wise a duck? :confused:Because, since Luke mentions the duck only in the SW novel I didn't want anyone to call ME a fanboy for using EU fodder so I figured I'd just censor it.

Rocketboy

07-16-2006, 07:45 AM

Because, since Luke mentions the duck only in the SW novel I didn't want anyone to call ME a fanboy for using EU fodder so I figured I'd just censor it.Sounds like something a fanboy would know...

El Chuxter

07-16-2006, 05:53 PM

First Amendment doesn't apply here. It's designed to allow individuals the right to protest the government and doesn't apply to privately-held entities. The owner(s) of rebelscum.com can do what they want. Of course, anyone can boycott them if they're not happy with them.

bobafrett

07-16-2006, 08:34 PM

A little of the subject here, but does anyone still have a Hyperspace membership? The reason I ask is there is a picture that I have been given photography credit on, that someone on my group informed me about. It is on the "teaser" shot and it was from my "Relay for Life" walk last month.
There is also a group picture of my team standing by the banner my friend created, but seeing as I didn't renew my membership. I'm not sure how often they update the Bantha Tracks online.

darthvyn

07-18-2006, 01:09 PM

The owner(s) of rebelscum.com can do what they want. Of course, anyone can boycott them if they're not happy with them.

but they'll be hit with the DOOM stick and get thrown into the negative zone...